Roman - The Fall of Britannia (18 page)

Those holding
the shields, eased them upwards to arm’s length in confusion, but
within seconds, the reasoning was clear, as the points of dozens of
arrows thudded into the shields, many smashing through the
laminated wood into the gloom of the protected Century beneath.
Battle had begun.

Julius peered
over the lip of his shield toward the archers.

‘
Brace! he screamed again, each time a volley was fired. The
air within the Testudo was thick with sweat and fear as arrow after
arrow rained down, smashing into the legionary shields. A man
screamed toward the rear rank as an arrow found a way through the
defensive shield.

‘
Man
down!’ shouted a voice in panic.

‘
Silence!’ roared an instructor. ‘Step up, seal the gap. We
will help him later.’

Within minutes,
the onslaught eased and Cassus peered over the lip of his own
shield. All around him, the ground was a forest of arrow shafts
where they had fallen short of the target. The enemy warriors were
closer now, having taken advantage of the arrow storm to
advance.

Remus and
Severus peeled off the side of the Century, and Cassus watched in
admiration as Severus casually cut away the dozen arrows piercing
his shield with one swipe of his Gladius.

‘
Report,’ shouted Remus.

‘
Two
down, three wounded,’ came a reply.

‘
Better than expected,’ murmured Severus to Remus, his eyes
never leaving the enemy. ‘Here come their cavalry.’

The enemy
horsemen charged forward toward the Century, each holding a lance
in one hand and brandishing a sword or axe in the other.

‘
Open order!’ screamed Severus and the whole Century exploded
into what seemed like chaos, but with speed borne from constant
practice on the parade square, over ninety men rapidly reformed
into individual Contubernia, each a square of nine men including
the Tessarius.

The first
Contubernium was positioned at the front, effectively the point of
a large wedge with the next two squads, ten paces to either flank
and ten paces back. Another two were further back, extending the
flanks even wider, and the whole thing was mirrored to the rear,
forming a diamond shape over a much larger area of ground. The two
remaining Contubernia were positioned close together in the centre,
providing a reserve force of twenty men.

The deployment
ensured the maximum use of available blades without weakening the
Roman strength for close quarter fighting, and ensured a strong
element of all-round defence at Century level, as well as
individual Contubernia. In addition, the positioning of the groups
meant that there were wide channels between them, designed to draw
the charging horsemen between them and face spear points from both
sides.

‘
Middle and rear ranks, throwing Pila,’ ordered Remus. ‘Front
rank, heavy Pila, present!’

The soldiers did
as they were ordered as the horses thundered over the ground,
carrying their screaming riders into battle.

‘
Here they come;’ shouted Julius, ‘hold firm!’

The Germanic
cavalry reached their lines, and though a dozen throwing axes
smashed into raised shields, the expected impact of the war horses
never came as they veered into the channels, exactly as Severus had
expected.

‘
Side rank, Pilae!’ screamed Severus, and the legionaries
launched a lethal assault on the cavalry racing between their
ranks.

The effect was
devastating, and Germanic blood sprayed everywhere as the Romans
slaughtered both men and beasts in a frenzy of aggression and
adrenalin. A horse galloped toward Severus, aiming his lance at the
Centurion’s back. Prydain realized Severus hadn’t seen the threat,
but before he could call out a warning, Optio Remus appeared from
nowhere and launched himself at the rider, knocking him clean off
his mount. Both fell to the ground and were winded for a few
seconds before the warrior gathered his wits and drew a blade from
his waistband. He staggered toward the Optio who was still on hands
and knees, but as he raised the blade to administer the killing
blow, Prydain charged from the line and drove his heavy Pila
through the attacker’s spine.

The warrior’s
head flung back in pain, dropping the sword to the ground in agony,
and for a second, Prydain stared in horror at the warrior speared
on his Pila, the point of which had carried flesh and bone through
the man’s back. It was the first man he had ever killed.

Optio Remus
stood and barely glanced at the dead man before turning to
Prydain.

‘
Don’t just stand there!’ he shouted. ‘Withdraw your blade and
get back in line.’

Three riders
broke through the Roman rear ranks and galloped back toward their
foot soldiers as Severus screamed the next order.

‘
Reform
!’ he ordered over the cheering. ‘Cuneus
formation.’

The soldiers
scrambled to form the blunt headed attack wedge.

‘
Their arrows are used!’ shouted Severus. ‘Their cavalry lie
at our feet.’ He looked over at the confused warriors across the
glade. ‘I estimate there are two hundred of them and ninety of us,
that makes it about even in my eyes. We have defended enough, now
we advance.’

The attacking
wedge marched forward across the grass leaving their casualties
behind them. Across the glade, Hanzer rode amongst his infantry,
whipping them up to a frenzy. They had not expected their riders to
be so easily defeated and had certainly not expected the Romans to
advance.

‘
Prepare Pilae,’ called Remus,’

The legionaries
changed the overhand grip on their Pila to the underhand throwing
grasp, raising them to shoulder level.

The Germanic
warriors were screaming in fury and frustration and they finally
charged across the grass to meet the oncoming Romans.

‘
All
ranks, loose Pilae,’ screamed Severus.
‘Century…
Chaaarge!’

Cassus launched
his Pilum as hard as he could, seeing it slam into the neck of a
young warrior before him, and with a blood curdling scream, raced
forward to crash into the first line of Germanic
warriors.

Cassus leapt
over the first row of speared men sprawled at his feet. The two
ranks had smashed into each other at full speed, each well aware
that the first to flinch would lose the advantage. Cassus’s whole
body shuddered with the impact as he drove his shoulder behind his
Scutum to reinforce his assault. At the same time, the two ranks
behind added their impetus to the charge, until Cassus and his
comrades thought their backs would break under the pressure. The
weight from both directions meant he could hardly breathe let alone
manoeuvre, though he did manage to thrust his Gladius between his
own shield and that of the soldier next to him, unaware if it
tasted barbarian flesh or not. Suddenly the pressure eased and he
managed to take half a step forward as the opposing ranks gave
ground.

‘
Push!
’ screamed Julius. ‘Break through
them!’

Cassus continued
to push with all his might, well aware that the whole aim of the
impact was to drive an armed wedge through the opposing ranks to
divide their strength. Suddenly Cassus realised that the enemy were
being forced backwards and at last, he had room to
manoeuvre.

‘
Attack!
’ screamed Julius. ‘Punch and
thrust!’

Cassus’s
training kicked in and he punched his Scutum as hard as he could
into the face of a screaming bearded warrior to his front,
following it up with a thrust from his Gladius. Steel met bone, and
though the German tried to return the blow with one from his own
axe, the damage was done, and it was easily deflected by Cassus’s
Scutum. He withdrew his Gladius and thrust again, this time having
the satisfaction of seeing the man fall to his knees, He smashed
the sole of his Caligae into the face of his opponent, using the
force to withdraw his Gladius from the dying man’s ribs. Strangely,
he was more sickened by the feel of smashed teeth and jaw beneath
his heel, than the fact he had just cut the man’s heart in
two.

All around him,
Roman was taking on barbarian, and no sooner had Cassus withdrawn
his blade from the dead warrior, than another took his place. This
time it was easier, and though the Century’s ranks were still
tight, there was more room to manoeuvre and the superior Roman
tactics kicked in.

‘
Step, punch, thrust!’ repeated Cassus to himself as he
advanced, repeating the drill commands from the training ground.
Time and time again his blade met flesh and a living, breathing man
fell at his feet to have his face caved in by hobnailed Caligae.
All around, terrified but disciplined men followed the same drills
and the result was slaughter.

‘
Front rank fall back!’ roared Remus suddenly. ‘Second rank
move up!’

Ignoring the
command, Cassus carried on advancing, caught up in the blood lust
as he delivered blow after blow to the terrified enemy.

‘
Fall back, soldier!
’ screamed a man behind
him.

The command sank
in, and Cassus stopped where he was, gasping for breath as the rear
ranks barged past him with renewed vigour and fresh muscle. He
looked around at the battle taking place all around him. The main
thrust was clearly advancing through the weaker lines of warriors,
and on the sides, he could see the defensive flanking units
protecting the sides of the Century. Everywhere, man killed man
without quarter, and though the Romans were taking casualties, they
were nothing compared to the undisciplined warriors.

‘
Change your shield!’ shouted Julius by his side. ‘Follow
me!’

Cassus discarded
his shattered shield, and picking up one from a fallen comrade,
joined ten others running to the left where the advance was
faltering. They ploughed into the fray with renewed vigour,
providing the reinforcement needed to the under pressure
flank.

As soon as the
threat had been extinguished, Cassus paused, breathing deep and
flexing the fingers of his right hand to break the sticky seal of
drying blood between hand and hilt. He rotated his left arm to ease
the stiffening muscles, cramping after the constant strain of
wielding his Scutum. Suddenly, he spotted Prydain fighting
frantically with Hanzer at the edge of the tree line. Prydain
fought with shield and Gladius while Hanzer wielded hand axe and
long sword, swinging both alternatively with an aggression borne
from ancestral fury. Prydain retreated under the frenzied assault
and Cassus started forward to help his comrade.

‘
Stand still,’ ordered Remus, who had also noticed the
conflict. ‘Leave them be.’

‘
He
needs our help,’ said Cassus.

‘
There are true-blood Romans who need our help first,’ snapped
Remus. ‘He will have to wait. He wants to be a legionnaire, well
this is his chance, now re-join the assault.’

‘
But
Optio…’

‘
Do it!
’ shouted Remus, and Julius led the ten men
including Cassus back to the main fight. As soon as they were gone,
Remus turned to watch Prydain and Hanzer fighting furiously at the
forest edge. Within moments they disappeared into the undergrowth,
and after a moment’s pause, he too, turned to re-join the main
battle.

Severus’s
distinctive voice resounded over the battlefield.

‘
They’re turning,’ he shouted. ‘Rear ranks launch Pila, front
ranks hold.’ The advance stopped dead in their tracks as the last
of the Pila flew over their heads, their lethal points thudding
sickeningly in to the retreating warrior’s backs. ‘Advance!’
screamed Severus one more time. ‘No prisoners!’

With a renewed
roar, the disciplined Century charged after the panicking warriors,
striking them down with impunity. Even when some held up their arms
in fear and begged for mercy, they found their pleas met with
Gladius and Pugio. The slaughter finally stopped at the edge of the
forest as any survivors sought refuge in its welcoming
density.

Initial cheering
was rapidly replaced with silence as the realisation finally dawned
on the trainee’s that it was over, and many slumped to the floor in
relief whilst others stood rooted to the spot, their brains
struggling to make sense of the carnage all around them. One or two
cried quietly, while others shouted and danced in absolute delight.
Everyone reacted differently and Severus wasted no time in
regaining order within the shattered Century.

‘
Optio,’ he called, ‘take ten men and retrieve the dead. You
men there,’ he continued, ‘gather the water skins, fill them up at
the stream and share them out. The rest of you, I want any unused
Pila collected. Form a defensive circle. This may not yet be
over.’

Julius
approached Cassus.

‘
Are
you hurt?’ he queried.

‘
Nothing serious,’ said Cassus as he tore a strip of linen
with his teeth into a makeshift bandage. ‘Have you seen
Prydain?’

Julius shook his
head.

‘
We
have patrolled the forest edge and there’s no sign.’

Cassus’s
continued wrapping the bandage around the gash in his upper
arm.